Focus on vocabulary

1. Transcribe and read out the following words.

average, addict (v, n), irreplaceable, highbrow, priority, discredit, voracity, ultimately

2. Study the definitions and work out what the word is.

1. full of excitement or hurried activity

2. a book or play that has been made into a film, TV programme, etc.

3. a strong need that one feels to spend as much time as possible doing a particular activity

4. too special, unusual, or valuable for anything else to take its place

5. a television-watcher

6. an interest having prior claim to consideration

7. tendency to seek distraction or relief from reality

8. to vary between limits

9. to be brave enough to accept or deal with

10. very keen to learn or do sth

3. Give synonyms.

1. disgrace, n

2. usual, ordinary

3. to relax

4. nearsighted

5. to consider, regard

6. to come under

4. Give the opposites.

1. addictive

2. flexible

3. highbrow

4. shortsighted

5. replaceable

6. above average

5. Fill in the gaps with the correct prepositions.

1. It is a new adaptation of her book … television.

2. Radio was the medium … family entertainment before television.

3. Their marriage took priority … everything else.

4. The products range … televisions to computer software.

5. My kids are hopelessly addicted … the net.

6. It’s difficult to choose what DVD player to buy, but ultimately it boils down … cost.

7. … average, women live between 5 and 10 years longer than men.

8. The Internet is viewed by many … a revolutionary educational tool.

6. The words on the left can be used as attributes. Match them with the nouns on the right to make as many phrases as you can. Careful! Some words may have no match.

1. communication a. adaptation

2. broadcasting

3. voracious b. life

4. highbrow

5. electronic c. environment

6. television

7. average d. media

8. visual

9. hectic e. viewer

10. flexible

11. mass f. day

12. computer

13. internet g. reader

14. film

15. print h. addict

7. Explain how you understand the following.

1. Perhaps it’s my reliance on film that has led me to keep reading as such a low priority task.

2. Ultimately it’s down to personal choice which format and which genres and styles we prefer.

3. The accusations against TV usually stem from garbage programming.

4. It is a question of priorities.

5. One of the reasons that I love reading so much is its flexibility.

6. Readers in America seem to be a dying breed.

7. Most people view literature through Hollywood’s eyes.

8. You don’t find time to read, you make time.

9. Films and video games are very often discredited by people who favour books.

10. I object to those who use books as a kind of snobbery.

8. Reading and Television.

1. Read the following passage, then fill each gap with the correct preposition.

I pride myself _____ the fact that I read two or three books a week. _____ this rate I’ll be familiar _____ every book in our local library soon.

I blame TV _____ the way people don’t seem to read as much as they used to. _____ my way of thinking, TV is responsible _____ many ills in our society.

I wonder _____ the amount of TV watched by my sister’s children. I have warned her _____ the dangers of this but _____ vain. She refuses to get involved _____ a discussion _____ the subject.

_____ one time I used to watch a fair amount of TV but I restricted myself _____ particular programmes such as documentaries and an occasional good film. However, I soon grew tired _____ even this. I was indifferent _____ many of the topics in the documentaries and there is also something missing _____ films or TV plays which are based _____ the stories in books. However good the film, it is no substitute _____ the original story. At last I think I’m beginning to convince my sister _____ the bad effect of TV _____ her children. She has agreed _____ my suggestion of selecting viewing and at the beginning of each week her family agrees _____ which programmes they want to watch and the TV is only turned on at those times. It’s taken a long time to get her to agree _____ me but I’m sure the schoolwork of my nephews and nieces will benefit as a result.

Should we really blame TV for the way people seem to read less than they used to?

2. Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only one word in each space.

Many people believe that watching television has resulted in __________ reading standards in schools. __________, the link between television and printed books is not as simple as that. In many __________, television actually encourages people to read: when a book is turned into a TV series, its sales often __________.

One study of this link __________ six-year-old children who were viewing a special series of 15-minute programmes at school. The series was designed to encourage love of books, as well as to __________ the basic mechanical skills of reading. Each programme is an animated film of a children’s book. The story is read aloud __________ certain key phrases from the book appear on the screen, beneath the picture. Whenever a word is read, it is also highlighted on the TV screen.

One finding was that watching these programmes was very important to the children. If anything prevented them from seeing a programme, they were very __________. What’s more, they wanted to read the books which the different parts of the series were __________ on. The programmes also gave the children __________ confidence when looking at these books. As a result of their familiarity with the stories, they would sit in pairs and read the stories __________ to each other. On one __________, the children showed great sympathy when discussing a character in a book because they themselves had been moved when watching the character on television.